By Richard Pagliaro | Wednesday, May 10, 2017
Novak Djokovic rallied from a break down in the final set defeating Nicolas Almagro, 6-1, 4-6, 7-5, to score his sixth straight win in Madrid.
Photo credit: Mutua Madrid Open
Staring down a 0-3 deficit in the final set, Novak Djokovic gazed around Madrid’s Magic Box absorbing an unfamiliar sightline and unsettling scoreline.
Then Djokovic fixed his eyes on the ball, cleaning up his act and quieting Nicolas Almagro’s threat, 6-1, 4-6, 7-5, to score his sixth straight Mutua Madrid Open victory.
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The reigning Madrid champion dropped serve to open the match then rolled through six straight games only to stumble in the second set as Almagro amped up his aggression.
"Look, you know, I'm still finding my way to that consistency level and quality of tennis that I'm looking for," Djokovic told the media in Madrid. "I'm aware that I'm not playing at my best, but I'm definitely believing in myself and the process. Eventually the game will come together.
"I can take a lot of positives from today, as I say, for almost two sets. I was playing really well, consistently, taking my chances, returning a lot of balls back, serving precisely. I wasn't making too many errors on the court. Then I had that four-game period which wasn't that great. But I managed to recover."
In his first match since announcing he dropped his entire coaching team, Djokovic was accompanied by a streamlined support staff—brother Marko and coaching consultant and spiritual guru Pepe Imaz sat in his box—and withstood a tight test turning a match of new beginnings into a familiar ending.
It wasn’t easy.
The match symbolized Djokovic’s season: He controlled the center of the court for some stretches, looked a little defensive and slightly disengaged at other times and found closure complicated.
It was Djokovic’s fifth win in as many meetings with the Spanish wild card and propels him into a round of 16 match with Spanish lefthander Feliciano Lopez, who lashed 14 aces squeezing out a 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (3) win over Gilles Simon. Djokovic has punished Lopez's one-handed backhand in winning eight of their nine prior meetings.
Hall of Famer Ilie Nastase and two-time Olympic gold medal champion Nicolas Massu were among several former players in the crowd for this clash.
The watched Djokovic storm through the first set smoothly carving up his slower opponent.
The second-seeded Serbian wristed a slick forehand drop shot winner to seal a 26-minute set in which he won 12 of 15 first-serve points.
At that point, the all-time Masters 1000 leader looked on track for a straight forward march into the round of 16.
Almagro had other ideas.
Confronting double break point in the seventh game, Almagro did not panic. A churning body serve set up an inside-out forehand to save the second break point.
The second seed’s speed haunted Almagro even when seeing open space. The Spaniard pounced on a mid-court ball and had half the court open, but perhaps out of respect for Djokovic’s court coverage, Almagro over-hit a forehand.
Shaking off that maddening miss, Almagro played the next two points on his front foot. An aggressive strike punctuated with a shout gave Almagro a 4-3 second-set lead.
Continuing to hit heavy drives, Almagro jumped out to a love-30 lead in the next game.
A tremendous 26-shot backhand-to-backhand exchange—one of the longest rallies of the match—ended with Almagro missing the baseline. That physical point seemed to drain Almagro a bit. He followed with four errors in a six-point span going down love-30 in the ninth game.
Racing up quickly to a Djokovic drop shot, Almagro could have done almost anything with his forehand. Except what he actually did which was push a forehand long to face double break point.
When Almagro’s in a bind he tends to try to blast his way out.
The former world No. 9 did exactly that thumping a smash, whipping a backhand crosscourt and eventually cracking his fourth ace for 5-4. The first serve was a lifesaver for Almagro, who won 18 of 21 first-serve points to that point in the set.
A jolting running forehand down the line gave Almagro another love-30 lead. Again, Djokovic resorted to the drop shot and again Almagro was up to the ball quickly. This time, he blocked a backhand down the line for double set point.
Working over the Serbian’s forehand, Almagro drew a netted shot off that wing throwing a fired-up first pump to celebrate the break that forced the final set.
Staring down break point, Djokovic showed calm and class sticking a forehand on the sideline, but followed it burying a backhand down the line into net to face a second break point.
Spreading the court with a sharp backhand return crosscourt, Almagro showed his strength and timing pulverizing a backhand strike down the line and breaking with an extended scream for 2-0. Almagro backed up the break with a love hold to stretch his lead.
Playing with more precision and defending with vigor, Djokovic went into lock-down mode fending off everything Almagro threw at him. When the 31-year-old Spaniard scattered a backhand down the line, Djokovic broke back for 2-3.
Serving to extend the set, Djokovic held at 15 for 5-all.
A few scattered chants of “Nico! Nico!” serenaded Almagro as he served to start the 11th game.
Djokovic muted the crowd and denied his opponent sliding a forehand down the line off the sideline then drawing successive errors to break for 6-5.
Drawing a final backhand error, Djokovic closed in two hours 15 minutes. He has won 12 of the last 14 sets he’s played in the Magic Box with only Murray and Almagro, two players with excellent backhands, taking a set apiece from him in that span.
Frustrated by his inability to serve out the match, Kei Nishikori unloaded with a series of striking winners breaking Diego Schwartzman to seal a 1-6, 6-0, 6-4 triumph.
It was Nishikori's first match since the Miami Open quarterfinals in March. A right wrist injury forced him out of Barcelona. When Nishikori wrapped up today's win he unwrapped the adhesive tape wrapping his wrist and spoke about his return.
"(I) felt pretty good," Nishikori said. "Yeah, that was my first match of the clay. In the beginning I wasn't playing hundred percent. But second and third I was feeling pretty good on the court, moving well. So I was very happy."
New father Jo-Wilfried Tsonga withdrew from the tournament with a shoulder injury prior to his scheduled meeting with 35-year-old David Ferrer. The former French Open finalist, who is seeking to become the fourth active player to join the 700-win club, will face Nishikori next.
“The problem is I stretch a muscle in my shoulders. I don't want to take any risk,” said Tsonga, who plans to decide in the next few days if he will play next Rome next week.
Nick Kyrgios cracked eight aces and won 24 of 28 first-serve points dismissing Ryan Harrison, 6-3, 6-3, in 58 minutes.
The 16th-seeded Kyrgios could play Rafael Nadal in a blockbuster round of 16 clash if the nine-time Roland Garros champion defeats nemesis Fabio Fognini later today.
Milos Raonic rocketed 10 aces and won 40 of 47 points played on serve defeating Gilles Muller, 6-4, 6-4, in 70 minutes.
The fifth-seeded Canadian will play ninth-seeded David Goffin for a quarterfinal spot. Raonic has won two of three meetings with Goffin, but this will be their first clay-court encounter.